17-year-old to be charged as adult in death of Justice Mitchell; second teen in custody

Wednesday

Oct 4, 2017 at 8:48 AM

Steve Fry

A 17-year-old teen man will be handled in adult court, not juvenile court, in the shooting death of a drug dealer at a Topeka fast-food chicken restaurant, a Shawnee County District Court judge ruled on Wednesday.

Charges will be filed against Lamero Dunstan in connection with the slaying of Justice Mitchell, 18, of Topeka, who was shot June 26 during a drug deal outside Church’s Chicken at 3001 S.W. 10th.

At the end of the two-hour hearing, Judge Joseph Johnson gave the district attorney’s office five days to file adult charges in the Dunstan case.

In juvenile court, Dunstan is charged with felony first-degree murder in the death of Mitchell and attempted aggravated robbery.

If convicted as an adult, Dunstan could face a life sentence without the possibility for parole until serving at least 25 years in prison. If his case was conducted in juvenile court, he could have been incarcerated about five years, Johnson said.

The name of a second teen, Shayden Byrd, surfaced Wednesday during testimony as someone being linked to Dunstan in the case.

After the hearing, district attorney Mike Kagay said that Byrd, 17, is charged in juvenile court with felony first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, and use of a communication facility in the commission of felony drug violation.

Byrd, who was 16 at the time of Mitchell’s shooting death, turned 17 about two weeks after the slaying.

Byrd is to appear in court on Thursday, Kagay said.

In his decision to move Dunstan to adult jurisdiction, the judge said Dunstan’s actions showed his desire to be treated as an adult, including criminal activity in which firearms are used. The judge said he couldn’t say the juvenile system had something that would help Dunstan at this stage.

"None of this is working, none of this is working," Johnson said of mental health treatment Dunstan has received and even the support of a loving family.

If word had spread that Dunstan had fired the shots on June 26, "idiots" with guns could be drawn to the Dunstan family home to seek retribution, the judge said.

The judge noted Dunstan had obtained a pistol.

Where did Dunstan get the gun? Johnson said.

Finally, the judge said shots were fired at a restaurant across the street from Washburn Park at S.W. 10th and Billard.

"What if a shot hits a kid playing in a sand pile?" Johnson said.

At about 12:27 a.m. June 26, Topeka police found Mitchell suffering from two gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital, where he died shortly after arriving.

Topeka police detective Victor Riggin testified Wednesday that Dunstan made contact with Mitchell via Snapchat to buy marijuana, then met him at Church’s Chicken. Mitchell had 4,000 friends on Snapchat, where he indicated he had marijuana to sell, Riggin said.

Dunstan got in the back seat of Mitchell’s Dodge Durango, Mitchell was in the driver’s seat, and a man named E.J. Williams was in the passenger seat, Riggin testified. Mitchell asked whether Dunstan had the money, and Dunstan replied it was around the corner.

Dunstan told the detective he heard the click of a gun held by Williams, which had misfired, Riggin said. Dunstan turned to fire his 9mm semiautomatic pistol at Williams, who jumped out of the Durango, then Dunstan fired two shots at Mitchell because he assumed Mitchell also had a gun, Riggin said.

Mitchell was shot twice, and Williams suffered powder burns on the inner side of his right arm, the detective said. As Williams fled, he repeatedly racked his .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol to load live rounds into it as he ran around the fast-food restaurant, Riggin said.

Dunstan ran to Byrd’s house, which was several blocks east of the restaurant. Police traced the Snapchat call to Byrd’s home at 1132 S.W. Webster, Riggin said.

Dunstan told police he sold the 9mm pistol for $300.

Police recovered the unfired .25-caliber semiautomatic in the Dodge, live rounds and spent shell casings, and marijuana and blood outside the vehicle, Riggin said.

Dunstan originally told Riggin he was going to buy the marijuana and leave, but later he said he was going to steal the marijuana to smoke. Dunsan said he and Byrd smoked a lot of marijuana.

E.J. Williams hasn’t been charged in the case, Kagay said.

Dunstan was arrested on July 4, but initially he wasn’t identified.

Mitchell, a May graduate from Shawnee Heights High School, played football and ran track for the T-Birds.

When arrested, Dunstan was going to be a senior at Topeka High School.

Court was briefly disrupted Wednesday when a spectator’s phone made a music tone, then a beep, and the judge stopped the hearing.

Assistant district attorney Dennis Jones approached the man and told the judge the man was attempting to audio record the proceeding.

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